


Silver Snow AU But It's Actually Just Crimson Flower Again

by UnapologeticallyMeatwad



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Edelgard has the Divine Pulse, Gen, Jeralt Has No Filter, Jeralt Reus Eisner Lives, Minor Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth, Non-Binary Byleth, silver snow AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:41:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24529300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnapologeticallyMeatwad/pseuds/UnapologeticallyMeatwad
Summary: Jeralt doesn't die to Kronya, but is instead abducted by Those Who Slither in the Dark (or as Jeralt calls, "The Dark Side Club") and replaces Metodey in the Holy Tomb. Now, Edelgard is waging war on Garreg Mach and she's losing. Her teacher is enraged and the only one that can calm them is their father.
Relationships: Jeralt Reus Eisner & My Unit | Byleth
Kudos: 22





	Silver Snow AU But It's Actually Just Crimson Flower Again

Flames burst through entire buildings and obliterate them on the spot. Sweat drips from underneath Emperor Edelgard’s crown as she looks on at Garreg Mach, the first home she ever became attached to, erupting with violence and well, literal  _ explosions _ .

“Dammit,” Edelgard grits her teeth. “I told them to be more careful. The whole school is going to go up in flames at this rate.” Carefully, she raises her boot and steps away from the corpse at her feet: Gilbert, one of the Holy Knights of Seiros.

Edelgard’s skin crawls and she fights off the temptation to look over to Jeralt, who she knows is staring at her; she doesn’t want him to think she doesn’t trust him to be here, fighting for her of all things.

“That’s not coming from our people,” Jeralt grunts, 

Edelgard narrows her eyes. Who could that possibly be? Possibly Catherine, Dorothea maybe if she’s finally gotten a handle on actually making her target with that Meteor spell of hers…

Jeralt laughs. “It’s my kid.”

As if on cue, Byleth emerges from the raging fires, teal hair bright enough to be seen against the raging oranges and reds that surround them. They hit the ground, and charge ahead, Sword of the Creator extending and going wild, igniting another safe zone into a horrible fire. A black figure emerges before the fire consumes everything and Edelgard can only hope that Jeritza can last this battle. 

This wasn’t supposed to happen… or rather, it was. That’s sort of the problem. Perhaps it was cruel to so readily dismiss her friends from her side of the war. 

Jeralt continues, “You know, the one you were secretly seeing until the end of the Pegasus Moon?”

Edelgard growls. This is not a time for jokes. She’s cried herself to sleep every night, unable to let go of the major mistake she made in not telling her classmates the truth. She raises her chin high. “I’ll talk to her.”

Jeralt waves his lance near her waist and eyes her with such lightness and humor. “Nah, I got it. If Kid kills me, make sure to tell your Uncle that I always thought he was a bastard and a guillotine isn’t enough for a shitheap like him.”

Edelgard groans. “He’s aware of your feelings towards him and incidentally, now aware that I feel the same. Thanks for that.”

Jeralt shrugs and turns on his heel, marching towards the blaze that Byleth created.

* * *

Kid hits like something else. For all the raw power Jeritza possesses, Byleth continuously clashes with the Death Knight’s scythe and swerves it off course. Occasionally, Byleth snorts and these white flashes of light bluster from their nose like an oxen’s grunt. According to one of Thales’ stooges and the replacement to the very dead Solon, Myson, Byleth fused with the Goddess, Sothis, to escape the Darkness of Zaharas. 

Sucks to suck.

If Jeralt had just been a better dad and brought Byleth over to what he calls  _ The Dark Side Club _ earlier in the game, this could have been avoided. Even though Byleth is winning, they must be in so much pain.

Byleth lands a winning stroke and carves the skull mask clean off Jeritza’s face. He tumbles to Byleth’s feet and the Sword of the Creator jabs into his throat, and Byleth’s murderous eyes are as blank as Jeritza’s… no, as the Ashen Demon’s.

No, not again.

“Kid,” Jeralt roars from beyond the flame. He steps into the mini-arena, his lance held high and parallel to the ground. “Let him go.”

Byleth’s normally placid expression sinks into a hideous sneer, but they kick Jeritza hard in the chest and step over him, dragging the Sword of the Creator against the ashen ground. They twirl it around their wrist and lean into a mean fighting stance.

Jeralt drops the lance immediately, letting it hit the dirt, and drops his hand back to his side. “I won’t fight you.”

Byleth twitches. “So you know this is wrong,” they rasp. It sounds like they haven’t spoken in days; Jeralt would know. Apparently, Byleth is at least sentient enough to catch Jeralt’s awareness over their muteness, and flinches. “Get out of my way, Dad.”

“No,” Jeralt says before he can think that through. “That’s not happening either. I won’t let you get to Edelgard.”

Byleth frowns. “Don’t you realize what she’s done?”

Jeralt suppresses a twitch in his own jaw; Edelgard has done some horrible things, not that her actions are any worse than Rhea’s. “She stopped Kronya from killing me, didn’t she?”

Byleth winces.

Jeralt doesn’t really get it, but after his body was warped to Shambala by Thales, he overheard mutterings that Byleth used this ancient technique called the Divine Pulse to save Jeralt… but on their second attempt to save him it was actually Edelgard who intervened. As if Edelgard herself was aware of all timelines erased by the Divine Pulse, and possessed the power herself.

Doesn’t make a lot of sense to him, but he would guess Byleth must have figured the same thing out that Thales did by now, and that’s the point.

“You weren’t there for it,” Jeralt sighs. “But before the Holy Tomb, Thales forced this creep on Edelgard, Metodey. He was supposed to kill all of you, but Edelgard killed him first and let me lead the charge down there.”

Jeralt notes that Byleth’s shoulders are relaxing at least. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were on their side?” Byleth gasps, tears mixing in with the soot on their cheeks. “Why didn’t she?!”

“She would’ve been killed for it, I think,” Jeralt says, eying the rising flames. He hopes Edelgard and Hubert are holding things down okay without him, as he also hopes none of those Black Eagle brats have gotten themselves into too much trouble. “Thales is a bastard like that.”

“Thales…?”

“Old guy with the fur coat, ladylike gloves, weird guy, bad taste in music.”

Byleth’s snarl momentarily crinkles into such a proud smile before sinking back into their rage. “Why are you against the Church? I thought they were growing on you lately.”

Jeralt shrugs. “I got cocky, I think. I let myself forget things I shouldn’t.”

Byleth eggs their Dad on. “Please.”

Jeralt groans and looks up at their kid, their beautiful, wonderful, chaotic, apparently godlike kid. “Rhea did something to you when you were a baby; she didn’t ask me for permission, she just did it, and I think that thing would’ve killed you on Sother’s throne in the Holy Tomb if you hadn’t, um, fused with her by then.”

Finally, Byleth laughs, and it’s one of the only sounds that can make Jeralt cry… and boy, does he cry. His knuckles curl near the snot bubbling at his nose.

“ _ Sother _ ? Dad it’s Sothis!” Byleth has to jab the Sword of the Creator into the dirt to support themselves from falling over.

“Hey!” Jeralt yells in mock-protest. “You knew as little as I did about Sother and Soros and — are there other Gods?” He tries to work his frantic voice back into calm. “I honestly don’t know, are there?”

Byleth blinks. “Um, there’s like, Saints, and stuff. Cichol and Cethleann and — ”

“Oh, you mean Seteth and Flayn?”

Byleth doesn’t laugh at this one, but they’re just as pleased as punch, silently watching their Dad like they did whenever they were eight year olds and Jeralt was on a drunken rant after a mission. “I love you, Dad,” they say suddenly. “I’m happy we don’t have to fight each other.”

“Me too,” Jeralt says. Finally, he did something right for once. He tries to get away from this moment though, and think of the next task. Probably something to do with making sure the Black Eagle brats don’t get themselves killed fighting for the wrong side of the war… but then Byleth’s head thunks against his chest and for a second, Jeralt reels back, not sure what to do with his hands and after debating with himself long enough, lets himself release and hold Byleth tight as they deserve to be held.

“Excuse me,” a deep baritone cuts in automatically.

Jeritza comes onto the scene, atop his horse and stooped over. That white haired kid, Lysithea, is riding Jeritza like he is a horse himself and has a big wand held high, a full circle of Dark Spikes T pointed right at Jeritza’s throat. Tailing behind her are the other Black Eagles.

There is a long pause between all of them, until Ferdinand steps forward, scratching his head. “Wait, pardon my ignorance, but Jeralt are you now on our side — or are we on your side?”

Byleth nods and gives Ferdinand a thumbs up. “Last one.”

“Ah,” Ferdinand smiles. “Well, Jeralt, uh, Captain Jeralt, where would you — ”

Jeralt gives the kids a salute. “Let’s go kick the shit out of that ugly white dragon, and then call Thales a bastard.”

**Author's Note:**

> honestly, it is such a missed opportunity that you don't get to fight Jeralt in this game. it feels like the game was actually written for that to happen, then they accidentally killed the dude off.
> 
> You can [follow me on Twitter](https://twitter.com/IAmLordMeatwad) for tweets about my cats and fanfic, and [follow me on Insta](https://www.instagram.com/katrinajagelski/) for similar stuff. Occasionally I do live reads for my original fiction and fanfic.


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